The Other Side of Mt Heart Attack
by MarvelGeek
Summary: Bruce Banner is forced to go to a doctor that's not himself by Tony. He doesn't like the news that he's given. "O-Oncology? But that's cancer." But Bruce was going to fight this with all his might, if only he could find out how to do one thing. 'How do you hide Cancer' (Pic is not mine..)
1. Chapter 1

Bruce Banner sat on the examination table of a small, family-oriented clinic, not very far from Avengers Tower. Despite being technically a doctor, he'd always hated being in a hospital setting, maybe it was the smell, all he knew was that it made the Other Guy antsy. It felt weird being on this side of the table, he being the one who was being examined. His doctor, a kind-looking elderly man, had already examined him and now he was awaiting the results of his tests.

To be honest, he really wasn't expecting much but Tony had insisted that he go see a doctor that wasn't himself. The billionaire had noticed how Bruce's already skinny frame had gotten slighter and how he was constantly tired and would end up, more often then not, asleep in the lab on top of whatever he'd been working on.

Bruce hadn't noticed that he'd dozed off until he felt a hand on his knee and he jerked awake, to the the concerned eyes of his doctor. The doctor that looked oddly solemn and sad, a clipboard clasped under his right arm. He cleared his throat and Bruce leaned forwards for what he was about to say.

"According to your test results, Dr. Banner, I'm going to suggest you see an oncologist at the hospital off 46th street."

The doctor whispered softly, but Bruce heard the words loud and clear. Yet only one word stuck with him, it pushed itself to the front of his mind and was the only thing he could focus on.

"O-Oncology? But that's cancer."

He stammered and the doctor looked away and nodded, turning to organize his tools on the counter, Bruce's vision seemed to tunnel as the doctor's words sunk in. Cancer? He had cancer? Out of all the things he expected to kill him, cancer wasn't high up on the list. In fact, it wasn't on the list at all.

"What kind?"

Bruce found himself asking, voice monotone and lacking inflection. The doctor looked at him with something akin to pity in his eyes and spoke softly to him again, like he was made of glass and might shatter at the slightest touch.

"I have a suspicion that you have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, also known as the adult form of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia."

The doctor whispered, gently and Bruce nodded robotically, taking the Manilla envelope that the doctor gave to him.

"Here, these are your lab reports. I'll have the nurse in the waiting room book you an appointment with an oncologist at the hospital tomorrow."

The doctor helped him off the table and personally walked him out of the examination room and towards the nurse at the front. Soon he had a sheet with his appointment time on it and was ushered out the door. The doctor gave him a lingering look of concern and looked around the parking lot.

"Do you have someone who can pick you up?"

He asked, worried and Bruce gave him a small smile as he drew the Stark Phone Tony had given him, out of his pocket. The doctor smiled in security and turned around to walk back inside. As Bruce reflexively dialed Tony and held the phone to his ear. It buzzed for a few moments before Tony's voice warbled over the line.

"Yo Brucie! What's my science bro up too? Did the big bad doctor give you a shot?"

Tony's voice laughed and Bruce gave a small smile at Tony's joy. He cleared his throat a few times before speaking but his voice still came out hoarse and strained.

"Can you come pick me up?"

He rasped, then winced at how serious and worrisome his voice sounded. He didn't want to worry Tony for no reason...was Cancer a good enough reason? Decidedly not, Bruce thought as he heard a worried voice coming over Tony's end.

"Yeah sure, I'm on my way. Are you okay, Bruce?"

Tony asked, all humor and laughter gone from his voice. _'Tell him! Tell him! It's the perfect time!_' Bruce thought, but he quickly stamped that out. There's was no reason to worry Tony.

"Yeah, I'm fine" _No you're not_."I just didn't feel like walking home." _Liar_.

Bruce said, forcing cheeriness into his voice, chanting over and over in his head. '_Don't worry Tony, Don't worry Tony, Don't worry Tony_...' And when the billionaire's relieved sounding voice came over the line, Bruce sighed in relief.

"Yeah, no prob. I'm pulling in now."

Tony said and both of them hung up as Bruce watched his best friend pull his black Mercedes into the parking lot, Bruce hurried over to the car, opened the door and slid in. Tony smiled at him, and Bruce smiled back seemly happy.

"So what did the doc say?"

Tony asked, once Bruce was settled and they were driving away. Bruce gave the worried genius a reassuring smile as he spoke.

"Oh, nothing," _Cancer isn't nothing_."I just need to eat and sleep more. I have a follow up tomorrow though." _with an oncologist_.

Bruce assured him and Tony grinned, leaning over and ruffling Bruce's messy locks.

"That's cool, I'll take you, its great that you're okay Brucie. What would I do without my science bro?!"

Tony cheered happily as they pulled into the newly christened Avengers Tower. Where they and their dysfunctional family of super heroes lived.

"You wouldn't be able to tie your shoes without me, Tony." _But you might_ _have to learn. _

Bruce sighed as he got out of the car and walked inside, Tony beside him. Only one question was on his mind, _'How could he hide Cancer?'_


	2. Chapter 2

Fake smiles were the only thing Bruce gave when he got inside the tower. The night after he was diagnosed was pretty much a blur of Avengers asking him if he was alright which he always replied to with an 'I'm fine.' But he wasn't, not really.

He still hadn't told them. What was he supposed to say? _'Hey guys, what's_ _up? Oh, by the way, I might be dying_.'? There was no way that they would take that lying down. They would want to help which would ultimately end up with him being babied constantly and their lives being ruined. So he just wouldn't tell. He could hide it until he could move out and into an apartment. Right?

Well he sure hoped so, and he went to sleep that night with that wish on his lips. He was dreading the next day, when he knew that the cancer would become real. Horribly and painfully soon.

-TimeSkip-

Bruce rested his head against the cool glass of his window as Tony drove him to the hospital. The genius was smiling and talking about what they were going to do later, what experiments and robotics he was working on. Bruce tried to listen, he really did. But he couldn't focus with the worry in the pit of his stomach, so he just smiled and nodded at whatever his best friend was saying.

Whenever the hospital loomed into view, Bruce winced but Tony didn't see, he was too focused on whatever else he was doing. Probably talking. Tony pulled the car up to the hospital and Bruce moved to get out but Tony stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Call me when you're done, okay?"

Tony said while Bruce smiled and nodded, turning on his heels and walking inside the hospital, listening to the sound of his best friend's car driving away. He just gulped and walked inside the fairly menacing building.

The first thing he noticed about the hospital was that it smelled strongly of disinfectant and grape flavored Benadryl. He hated grape flavored Benadryl, it sickened him. He also tried to ignore the people in the waiting room, it had crying children, football uniform clad teens, people in bathrobes and pregnant woman. He just strode over to the front desk where the nurse greeted him flatly.

"Yes, what do you need?"

She asked snappily, as if Bruce just standing there was the most annoying and irritating thing in the world. He pulled the piece of paper the nurse had given him yesterday, out of his pocket and checked the name before telling it to the nurse.

"I'm looking for Dr. Sanchez in Oncology? I have an appointment..I think."

The moment that the nurse heard him say 'Oncology', her gaze softened and she reached forwards to pat the hand that he had resting on the desk.

"Floor 8, honey. Are you new, sweetie?"

He didn't bother rolling his eyes at the patronizing names and just nodded. The nurse clucked softly and shook her head.

"Good luck."

She whispered and Bruce nodded his thanks before heading over to the elevators. He guessed that they were more patterned towards children as there were zoo animal stickers covering the inside. He just tapped his foot nervously as the elevator stopped on the third floor and a pair of crying women entered the elevator, it looked as if the slightly younger one was trying to comfort the older, but Bruce was trying as hard as he could not to look at them.

Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse, the elevator opened on the fifth floor and a Pre-teen walked in. He or She was completely bald and you could see a long puckered scar running down from the base of their skull. Bruce couldn't, for the life of him, figure out if the tween was a boy or a girl. He or She was at that age where they only wore jeans and tees, and when they were bald...well jeans and tees were still, jeans and tees.

The older woman gave a deep moan-like sigh when she saw the tween's scar and the younger stamped on her foot and snapped a quiet, 'Shut up!' Bruce was glad that that younger woman had managed to quiet her companion or he would have stomped on her foot himself.

Luckily the silent tween got off at the next floor and the older woman decided that it was time to engage Bruce in conversation. She smiled at him, kindly and offered a hand.

"Hello, my name's Sheryl Connors. My sister Wendy and I came to visit our father, what are you here for? Visiting?"

Bruce forced a smile and shook the woman's proffered hand, stiffly.

"New patient actually, Oncology."

He hissed through his teeth and the woman's smile instantly turned into a frown, and her hand quickly leapt to cover her mouth and she looked pained, it was all very overly dramatic. It made Bruce sick to be honest.

"Oh dear! But you're so young! Don't you worry our Lord is going to take good care of you when you reach his gates, young man."

Bruce nodded stiffly at the woman's statement and clenched his fists at his sides, he could feel the Other Guy brushing at his consciousness, but he shoved him down. He all but slammed the 'open door' button when they reached the next floor. It wasn't his floor but he didn't care, anything to get away from those women.

He ended up walking up the stairs to the next floor.

-TimeSkip-

When he finally managed to get to his floor. He kept his eyes glued to the floor and his shoes. He wanted nothing more than to disappear while trying his hardest not to look at the patients, most were bald or balding and they all ranged from infants to elderly men and women. Some of them looked scared or nervous, most had tubes coming out of different places, but the ones that terrified Bruce the most were the patients that were sitting quietly, staring into nothingness. Stoned on pain meds...stoned on pain.

He carefully picked his way over to the nurse's station and a kind, grandmotherly looking nurse greeted him.

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

She asked, softly and he gulped before answered quietly.

"I'm here for Dr. Sanchez. Dr. Hancock called me in."

He whispered and she typed something into her computer and looked at it for a moment before looking up at him again.

"Are you Robert Banner?"

She asked and he nodded, shyly.

"Oh, we have a room ready for you."

She quickly stood and gestured for him to follow her. She led him down the hall and into a sterile-looking white room. He just stared for a moment before she gave him a hospital gown and told him to go change in the bathroom down the hall. He ended up wandering in an utterly lost circle before someone took pity on him and pointed him towards it.

Once he was inside, he quickly stripped and pulled on the gown but left his boxers on underneath. Then once he finished, he just slumped backwards and sat on the toilet seat. He was finally alone, just him. Well him, and the sink, and the toilet...and his cancer.

-TimeSkip-

As soon as Bruce got back to his room, there was a different nurse waiting for him, a pretty african american woman with long braids past her shoulders and a bright smile. She told him to climb up onto the bed. He did so and she began hooking up several monitors to him, obviously there was no modesty, as she reached down his gown several times.

"Your oncologist will be in momentarily."

She added as she caught him staring at the door and its hazardous 'Sharp object' container. He just leaned his head backwards as she stabbed a needle into the soft flesh on the inside of his arm.

"You have tiny veins."

She observed, clucking softly as she covered him up to his waist with the stiff hospital sheets before taping his hand to a blue board to keep it still. Bruce just nodded, quietly. Several nurses came in after that, but after a while they all seemed to blur together. The only time he payed attention was when a middle-aged Hispanic woman walked in with a lab coat on and told him that she was his oncologist.

"Nice to meet you, Robert. Just to let you know, we will be taking you in for a bone marrow biopsy tomorrow. You'll have to stay overnight today and tomorrow, but after that we will release you with a diagnosis."

She explained and Bruce's ears perked up at that.

"Wait, so you don't know if I have cancer or not?!"

He asked and she shook her head comfortingly as he rested a hand on his knee.

"No, we do know you have blood cancer. But we need a confirmation as to what type you have. That way we can easily plan your chemo and radiation regime for you."

She whispered and he nodded, frustrated already. Once she left, he pulled his phone out of the pile on his clothes he had shoved to the edge of his bed. Tony would probably be expecting a call.

What he was surprised to see was the fact that he five missed calls, all from Tony, Clint, Steve and Natasha. He sighed and dialed Tony's number, holding the phone up to his ear. He winced as Tony's voice came over the device moments later.

"Bruce? Where are you?! It's almost two o'clock! You just had a follow up, why aren't you back yet? Wait...let me put you on speaker, everyone else is here."

Tony grunted over the phone and Bruce sighed as he waited.

"SHIELD-BROTHER BRUCE?!"

Thor yelled over the the phone and Bruce yelped as his ears started wringing horribly. He winced and rubbed at them, as he spoke.

"Owww...Thor, yeah it's me. I'm fine." _No, you're not! _

"Why aren't you back yet?!"

The was Clint's voice that answered him, Bruce sighed again and spoke.

"I decided to help out the hospital while I was here," _No, you're a patient. _

Bruce lied, smoothly. Feeling horribly guilty but it was better this way. A tiny voice in his head spoke. '_Better for who, Bruce? Better for them, maybe. But_ _what about you?' _He didn't matter.

"When are you coming home?"

That was Steve's voice and Bruce answered softly.

"Two days at most guys. They really need help." _They're the ones helping_ _you_!

A few of them hummed their consent but Tony huffed irritably.

"Why do you have to help everyone, Bruce?"

The genius huffed and Bruce smiled ruefully.

"It's my job, Tony." _Liar._

A nurse gently prodded him in the shoulder and smiled at him apologetically.

"You can't use your phone here, they interfere with the life saving equipment."

She whispered and Bruce nodded, hanging up his phone with a short goodbye.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce didn't sleep that night in the hospital, how could he? The annoyingly caring night-nurses came in and out of his room constantly, just to fiddle with machines. Each time waking him up when they smashed their carts against the foot of his bed. And if to add more grievances, his roommate, whoever he or she was, kept the TV on constantly and he could barely hear himself think over the sound.

But still he didn't want to disturb them by pulling back the thin blue tinted curtain that separated them. That curtain was a practical wall. And he couldn't really move from his bed anyway, at least not without unplugging the mess of wires attached to him. For a few minutes he actual had the fear that if he tugged the wrong thing, his head would fall off. But that must've been the drugs messing with him.

It's no wonder, Bruce slept fitfully that night, he survived by dozing in short bursts until he woke up a few hours later. To several male nurses standing above him and moving him from his bed to a gurney with the help of the bed sheets. He ended up blushed as red as a ripe tomato in embarrassment at having to be picked up and the fact that his hospital gown had ridden up slightly.

Bruce drowsily registered the fact that a young-looking male nurse with dark wavy hair and a gold tooth was talking to him, and he tried to listen but he was already exhausted.

"We're taking you for your bone marrow biopsy and aspiration, Mr. Banner."

The nurse said calmly but Bruce was paying more attention to the way the man's gold tooth glinted in the starchy and sterile light from the hospital ceiling. The shy physicist ended up just nodded to whatever the guy was said to him as they wheeled him into another room. A room that was covered in a pale brown wallpaper. That was the first thing Bruce noticed and how it contrasted sharply with the white of everything else in the room, like the examination table and the counters. Hospitals were always full of white.

He blushed once again as they moved him from the gurney to the bed. Except this time he blinked wildly as well, his eyes trying to adjust to the blinding white light in the room. The doctor came in later as the nurses flipped Bruce on his side, whatever modesty he had left, going out the window as they opened up the back of his hospital gown and disinfected his hips and lower back.

The shy physicist gritted his teeth and clenched his hands as they numbed the areas with what felt like cool spray. But even with the numbing spray, he winced as he felt the long needle sink its way into the marrow of his hip bones. He let out an involuntary whimper as tears prickled in the corners of his eyes, and he grit his teeth so hard that it hurt. Because it did hurt dammit! It hurt everywhere!

At some point during the procedure, Bruce passed out and nobody in the room blamed him in the slightest.

-TimeSkip-

The next time Bruce came to, he was painfully aware of the strong ache in his hips and lower back. He moaned at the feeling and tried to curl up in a ball, only to be restricted by the fact that a sharp pain exploded across his backside as a result. So he decided to compromise with his body by laying there panting in a half curled up position, cursing everything and everyone he could think of.

The physicist only looked up when he heard the sound of a forced cheery voice saying, 'Dr. Banner?', from his doorway. He tried to focus on the familiar Hispanic woman in a lab coat. She took that as a sign he was more coherent and came in and sat at the foot of his bed and resting a comforting heavy hand on his knee.

"We've gotten your test results in early, Robert. You do have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and your first chemotherapy treatment will be a week from now. For now, you can go home but remember that you cannot get your hips or lower back wet for 48 hours, you must change the bandages every 24 hours, and you have to rest for three days. No heavy lifting or standing in a rigid position for more than thirty minutes at a time until the three day period is finished. Oh and increased soreness is to be expected."

She listed off quickly, then passed him a few sheets with care instructions printed on them. He just blinked at her in surprise, trying to form something to say, but his mouth was dry and nothing came out. So he just nodded and looked at the sheets in his hands, as she turned away and walked out the door.

-ShortTimeSkip-

Bruce was unbelievably embarrassed and only by the simple fact that he was being rolled outside in a wheelchair. It was stupid that such a simple thing was making him embarrassed, he knew that his walk would probably be slow and awkward, not to mention painful, and that this was just hospital policy. But it still embarrassed him.

When they finally reached the curb, the kind-faced male nurse who'd pushed him there helped him out of the wheelchair and supported Bruce gently as he moved to sit in the taxi he'd called. He would've called Tony but he hadn't wanted them to see him being pushed out the hospital in a wheelchair. It would mean the end of the lie he'd created to protect them. _'Protecting them_. _Always protecting them, huh Bruce?'_

Bruce gave a small smile to the nurse who, once he was seated, handed Bruce his bag before closing the door for him. Once the door was shut, Bruce rested his head against the back of the seat. In truth, he couldn't wait to get to his bathroom. His teeth felt crummy and his hair desperately needed a wash, two things he didn't get a chance to do in the hospital.

"Hey kid? If you're going to puke, tell me so I can pull over, alright?"

The taxi driver said, gently as he turned his mirror so he could look at Bruce. The man had graying blond hair and a goatee, he was maybe around forty or fifty but his smile was full of youthful-ness.

"Yeah will do, Mister...?"

Bruce agreed then trailed off as he couldn't find a name tag on the dashboard for his driver.

"Daniel Whittington, but you can call me Davy. What about you?"

"Bruce Banner."

Bruce introduced himself after the man and then smiled, this 'Davy' reminded him of an older mix of Clint, Steve and Tony.

"So Bruce, where you want to go?"

"Stark Tower, please."

"Alrighty then. Say, why were you at the hospital?"

Bruce just shrugged dismissively at Davy's concerned question but then he figured he might as well tell him. There was nothing he could really do about it anyway.

"New cancer-patient."

Bruce sighed and then watched as Davy's eyes bugged out in concern and surprise and he quickly muttered.

"Christ! What kind ya got, kid?"

"Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia."

He didn't really know what the man was going to say after that but he certainly hadn't expected what came out of Davy's mouth next.

"Well shit. That's pretty damn fucked up."

There were no 'I'm sorry's, or 'I'll pray for you's. There were just three cuss words in a sentence and that was what caused Bruce to smile slightly. Davy was the realist person he'd told so far.

"Yep. That it is."

"Hey kid, if you ever need anymore rides to or from the hospital. You just call up my company and ask for me and I'll be there."

Davy added as he pulled the cab up to the front of Stark Tower. The cabbie made a move to get out of the car and help Bruce but the physicist shook his head.

"It's fine." _Really Bruce, really?_

Bruce slowly pulled himself out of the car, not even wincing as the sharp twinges of pain shot up his spine and hips. He just grabbed his bag and began to force himself to walk briskly to the door. He ignored the moans that built up in back of his throat, as he struggled to walk normally. But he was insanely relived when he got to the door, he knocked gently and forced a smile onto his face as JARVIS unlocked it.

Bruce looked inside the building and when he saw no one in the immediate area, he entered stiffly and sagged against the wall near the door. That short walk already had him gasping in pain. 'Increased soreness' my ass!

"Dr. Banner? Would you like me to call one of the other Avengers for assistance?"

JARVIS' voice spoke from above the physicist who waved him off. It may have just been him, but the AI sounded almost...concerned. Bruce pushed himself back up and headed for the elevator. Once he was inside he pressed the button for the living room floor, he thought he could probably eat something. Even though, if he was being honest, he wasn't hungry at all.

When the elevator doors opened to a seemingly empty floor, Bruce got out and shuffled awkwardly to the kitchen. Planning to eat some crackers or something. What he wasn't expecting was a kitchen full of Avengers and Pepper eating several boxes of pizza. They all looked up when he entered and gaped at them like a fish out of water.

"Brucie! My buddy! You're back!"

Tony crowed and leapt to his feet to grab Bruce into a rough hug. Not realizing that when he did so, he slammed Bruce's right hip into the corner of the tabletop beside them. Bruce let out an involuntary yelp that made Tony drop his arms instantly and look at Bruce in concern.

"What happened?"

Steve asked as he stood up from the table, the rest of the Avengers and Pepper had stopped eating as well, to look at Bruce in growing concern.

"Oh nothing important!"

"But-."

"Well, I'm going to go take a hot shower. I desperately need one. See you guys later!"

Bruce added with forced cheeriness as he spun in his heels and forced himself to speed walk normally towards the elevators.

"Wait! Aren't you going to eat with us?!"

Clint called after him but Bruce was already in the elevator.


	4. Chapter 4

A week later found Bruce sitting in a hospital waiting room, trying to gaze at his hands instead of the people around him. They were all desperate, some were children who were staring straight ahead with a blank expression on their faces like they were close to giving up. Bruce wasn't desperate...he wasn't dying...he was just sick is all. Sickness can get better but death...that's an ending.

Bruce leaned over slightly to look out the window of the hospital, he was surprised to see a beautiful garden outside, with rows and rows of brightly colored flowers. He smiled slightly as he looked at them.

"You know, that's where they tell parents their kids are dead."

Bruce was surprised when he heard the sarcastic tones of a teenage girl beside him. The physicist turned to the side and saw a thirteen or fourteen year old girl sitting in the chair next to him. She was thin and willowy with a blue sash wrapped around her undoubtably bald head, but her green eyes were bright and alive as they looked at him, waiting for an answer. When he didn't really respond, she answered for him.

"You must be new here. I'm Sage, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage 3b."

She added, holding a green knit gloved hand out to him. Bruce looked from her to the hand in shock before he shook it gently.

"Yeah, I'm new. I'm Bruce, uhh...Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and I'm not sure exactly what stage I am."

Sage looked at him with new interest that she hadn't had before as he spoke.

"Oh, so you're an Adult ALL? You don't see a lot of Adult ALLs around here, you're a rarity."

She added, popping a piece of mint gum out of her pocket and folding it into her mouth absentmindedly. She offered him a piece but he declined, still she pressed, pushing the strip of Double Mint into his hand.

"It helps after the chemo, trust me."

Bruce just sighed and took the gum, cramming it into his back pocket for later, along with a ton of pocket lint. Then he blinked at Sage in confusion.

"How did you know-?"

"That you were here for chemo? That's what everyone's here for."

She cut him off mid-sentence with one of her own as she grinned, widely. Her grin must've been infectious because soon he was smiling along with her.

"Robert Banner?"

A blond female nurse at the front of the desk called loudly and Bruce looked up, already moving to his feet and sending an apologetic look to Sage as he grabbed his stuffed full bag, he hadn't been sure what he needed, so he brought a lot of stuff.

"Wait! Can I have your number?"

Sage asked, the young teen hopping to her feet and gesturing to her arm with a black sharpie she'd yanked out of her back jeans pocket. Bruce smiled and ran a hand through his fluffy dark hair awkwardly.

"Umm..I'm a bit old for you, Sage."

The younger girl rolled her eyes comically and gestured to her arm with the marker again in annoyance.

"Duh, Bruce! I meant as chemo buddies."

She explained as if was totally obvious and that Bruce was stupid for thinking otherwise. The physicist just smiled sheepishly and nodded as he took the marker and wrote his cell number on the inside of her right forearm. She grinned at him as he held the marker back out to her.

"Now, Mr. Banner."

The nurse at the front tapped her foot impatiently and Bruce nodded to her as he hurried over, only to turn around as Sage called out to him.

"I'll find your chemo room later Bruce!"

-TimeSkip-

Bruce was at a loss as the blue clothed nurse next to him set a bunch of mammoth looking needles on the cart beside her. He couldn't help staring openly and gawking at them as she placed them one by one on the cart. Her eyes flicked to him and she sent him an apologetic smile.

"Do you want me to cover them?"

She whispered, softly and he blinked up at her. Once he realized what she was saying, he shook his head.

"No, that's alright."

He whispered as the nurse passed him several sheets of paper, the writing was minuscule on each of them. When he squinted, the physicist realized that they were lists of side effects. 'Nausea and vomiting...Hair loss...Skin discoloration...Mouth sores...Becoming sterile...Low blood counts...Weight loss...Loss of appetite...Taste changes...Abdominal cramps...Swelling in your ankles and feet (fluid retention)...Cataracts and bone thinning...Muscle weakness...Kidney toxicity...Skin peeling...Eye pain/sensitivity to light...Excessive sleepiness...Headaches and Dizziness' to name a few.

Bruce pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose gently with his free hand. His other was currently having a needle plunged into one of its many tiny veins. He looked up in surprise as he felt something cold dripping into his arm.

He learned the routine quickly, whenever a drug was finished being pumped into him, a timer would go off and the nurse would come back into the room to change it too another one. Bruce ended up killing the time by flipping through old magazines. But he couldn't say he wasn't relieved when Sage walked into his room, tugging her IV pole with her. It was hooked up to a tube that was surgically implanted in her chest. She just walked over and sat on the edge of his bed, grinning at him.

"Your Sage has arrived!"

She announced in a pompous voice as she stuck out her tongue, getting a small laugh out of Bruce. That must've been all she was looking for because she laughed as well, while pulling out a ratty old deck of cards.

"Do you wanna play go-fish?"

Bruce just smiled and shrugged as an answer to Sage's question. The girl took it as a 'yes' and began shuffling the deck quickly and splitting it between them so they could play. They ended up playing for a good thirty minutes, all the while laughing at each other. Sage called it the 'Laugh game'. They would do everything they could to make each other laugh, the score was currently Sage: 9 and Bruce: 9. And that was only because every time Sage would make Bruce laugh, she would end up laughing as well.

"Hey, Sage? Do you have any three-."

Bruce was saying but then he froze and a hand flew to cover his mouth, he felt like he was about to puke all of a sudden. His stomach was churning horribly and it felt like the room was spinning on its axis. Sage's eyes widened and she leapt off the bed to grab a kidney basin off the counter and lunged forwards to hold it under Bruce's chin.

"Shit Bruce! You're an early reactor!"

Sage cried as Bruce's head launched forwards and vomit spewed out of his mouth and nose, tears prickled in the corners of his eyes as the horrible burning sensation it caused. But he couldn't stop, it just kept coming in bursts. It trickled out of his nose and mouth as he raised his head to look at Sage pathetically. The young girl began to run her hand through Bruce's hair comfortingly as the puke just kept coming.

He moaned loudly and she hushed him softly, looking at him with all the empathy in the world. She knew what it felt like to vomit like that.

"Hush, Bruce. I know, it'll pass soon."

She crooned and he groaned as another heap of vomit gushed from his mouth and nose. This time, he just let the tears pour out of his eyes and down his cheeks to mix with the yellow bile-filled puke.

-TimeSkip-

Bruce rested his head against the midriff of whoever was pushing his wheelchair out of the hospital. But before they could get out the door, the nurse stopped the wheelchair and passed a blue surgical mask to Bruce who looked at him in confusion.

"You have to wear that when you're not in a totally sterile environment. Your immune system will be compromised from the chemo."

The nurse sighed and Bruce just nodded, not arguing as he just pressed the blue fabric to his nose and mouth and pulled the elastic over both ears. The nurse smiled in approval and pushed Bruce outside and down the long sidewalk, to where Davy's taxi was waiting for him. The moment he stood up from his wheelchair, his word spun sickeningly and he lurched to the side. Luckily the nurse was still holding him and managed to stop him from face-planting into the pavement as he settled him in the taxi.

Bruce rested his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes to avoid looking at his horribly spinning world.

"Bruce? Kid, are you okay? Ya look like shit."

Bruce smiled under the mask as he heard Davy's concerned voice from the front seat.

"Yeah, I'm okay...First chemo."

He gasped as he pressed his head against the cold glass of Davy's window. The cold glass was comforting against his hot skin.

"Stark Tower, again?"

"No. Can you take me to the closest motel?"

Bruce couldn't go to the Tower like this, he could barely go there after his biopsy. Going there when he was this messed up wasn't an option. '_Sure it_ _isn't an option_...' That's when his stomach began to churn sickeningly again. He dimly processed the fact that Davy was saying something but Bruce had no clue as to what it was.

"Davy?"

He groaned, one hand going to his sloshing stomach and the other going to his cloth covered mouth as he curled up against the window, in a small shaking ball. Trying desperately to hold in his vomit. But the taxi driver didn't seem to have heard him, because he was still talking at the same pace as before and driving.

"DA...VY!"

Bruce moaned, his face turning at least two shades paler than it already was. The taxi driver finally turned around and his eyes widened as he saw Bruce's condition. He quickly pulled the car over as Bruce ripped off his mask and threw open the door, only to practically fall out of the car and start puking on the curb. His frame shook every time his body heaved bile and the meager contents of his stomach onto the pavement. He felt as weak as a newborn kitten as this happened and if it hadn't been for Davy, who ran around the car and grabbed him by his shoulders, he would have fallen in his own vomit.

"Shit, Bruce! Are you okay?"

The taxi driver asked worriedly as he looked at the physicist in growing worry. Bruce nodded as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"I-I'm okay. Can you take me to the motel now?"

Bruce slurred, his eyes still unfocused and his throat burning. Davy raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the physicist and he shook his head.

"Nope! If you really think I'm going to leave a young sick guy who can't be older than his late twenties, alone in a motel room when he's this sick, then you're fucking with me."

Davy sighed as he helped Bruce off of the pavement and back into the cab, gently.

"Then where...?"

Bruce whispered and Davy slid into the driver's seat.

"I'm taking you to my house."


	5. Chapter 5

If Bruce had been in his right mind at the time, he wouldn't have agreed to going anywhere but to a motel, in Davy's cab. But then again, Bruce wasn't in his right mind, he was pumped full of chemo meds and that would be enough to make anyone's choices a bit wonky. At least that's what Bruce told himself later, after he'd come to his senses.

Instead, a sick and nauseated Bruce was driven to Davy's house. He spent most of the ride either passed out or puking into a paper bag that Davy gave him. So he didn't remember much of it. The only thing he really remembered was the moment when Davy got out of the cab and opened the door to Bruce's side.

The physicist made a move to get out of the car, but was stopped by Davy as the older man slid his arms under Bruce's back and knees and, without any outward sign of hesitation. The cabbie lifted Bruce into a bridal carry in his arms, like he was nothing more than a young child. The physicist blushed scarlet and tried to escape but relented at Davy's look which clearly said you-will-not-walk-you-idiot.

Neither of the men noticed Bruce's phone left abandoned on the seat, the screen bright and blinking with information. That information was a list of missed calls. Tony Stark-19 missed calls, Clint Barton-10 missed calls, Natasha Romanoff- 11 missed calls, Steve Rogers-15 missed calls.

-PlaceSkip(Tony)-

Tony Stark checked his phone for the umpteenth time before sighing in frustration and tossing the offending object onto the couch. Where the fuck was their doctor?! Bruce never left the Tower this long without calling one of them to make sure they knew that he was alright. It just wasn't like their physicist to disappear without even telling them.

He could've broken or lost his phone but Tony knew that if that had happened, Bruce would've come to him and begged his forgiveness. His fluffy physicist never did understand that when Tony gave him something, he didn't mean for him to treat it like glass. And that hadn't happened. The genius sighed and rested his head in his hands, praying for him to call, to at least send him a half-assed text.

Anything.

-Steve-

Steve Rogers repeatedly slammed his fists against a punching bag in the gym. He ignored the way his already blood-stained knuckles slipped and slid against the smooth fabric of the bag. Bruce would yell at him for that later. Bruce...where was their doctor anyway? Steve had tried calling him several times on the phone that Tony had taught him to use, but he never received an answer.

He hadn't realized how used he was to having the doctor around them. 'They needed him.' Steve thought ruefully as he smashed his fist against the bag again, that ended up breaking the chain and sending the bag across the room.

He honestly missed their doctor.

-Clint-

Clint Barton stared at the bow in his hands, it was worn to his exact specifications and he was always comforted every time he used it. It reminded him of his team. He looked at the bottom of the bow and saw the hairline scar that was once a devastating break, a break that had rendered the bow useless.

But it was Bruce who'd taken the splintered bow out of Clint's hands, it was Bruce who sat up in the lab until the wee hours of the morning repairing his bow, piece by piece. And it was Bruce who handed it to him a few days later, he'd fixed it completely and made it even better than it was before. Clint could've leapt up and hugged him but the doctor had simply shook his head and smiled, before walking away. Clint shut his eyes tightly and rested the bow on his bed.

Where was Bruce?

-Natasha-

Natasha Romanoff looked out the window and then back down to her hands. She remembered the time the Hulk had attacked her, she was terrified sure, but she knew that if Hulk wanted to kill her then he would've done so. But he hadn't. Still Bruce blamed himself for it. He would come up to her and apologize multiple times, and she always brushed him off. Because honestly, once she saw how Bruce Banner acted and who he was, she didn't care.

She knew that if Hulk had been in his right mind, he wouldn't have attacked her, nowadays he affectionately called her 'Red' or 'Spider'. Now she realized that maybe every time she'd brushed him off, Bruce took it as a sign she didn't forgive him. But she did! She did dammit!

Now where was that stupid fluffy-haired scientist so she could tell him?!

-Thor-

Thor Odinson gazed down at the pop-tart box in his hands. Thor cared about his teammates, he considered each of them part of his family. So when he heard that Bruce had once put a bullet in his mouth, he went to go find out what happened from said fluffy scientist. He'd cornered his friend and asked him why he'd attempted swallowing a bullet. Wouldn't it have caused an upset stomach?

Bruce had sighed and explained that it was a metaphor and he'd tried to kill himself. Thor had frowned and his wide blue eyes filled with sadness and hurt, he asked why Bruce had done that. Bruce apologized and told the Demi-god that he would never do it again. Now Thor set the box back in the cabinet and frowned in worry. What if the good doctor had attempted to swallow a bullet again?!

Where was their doctor, their physicist...their friend?!

-TimeSkip-

Bruce rested his head against the cool porcelain of the toilet seat as he puked again and again. He felt like utter crap and was convinced he had to have puked up a kidney already. His body just wouldn't get the message that there was nothing left in his stomach! He didn't even notice as Davy walked into the bedroom, expecting to find a sleeping Bruce.

"Hey Kid! I brought you some water and...oh shit."

Davy set the glass of water on a table and hurried over to help Bruce. The physicist moaned as Davy helped him up off the tile and into the bedroom, where he set the young man on the bed, gently. Bruce was really out of it.

"I'm sorry, Davy."

Bruce whispered as he blearily focused on the taxi driver, the man just smiled at him and glanced over at the picture on the night table before looking at him and covering him with a thread-bare pink quilt.

"It's fine, Kid. Nothing I haven't been through before."

Davy sighed as Bruce fell asleep soundly. The man walked over to the night table and picked up the picture. It was of a much younger Davy with a young woman sitting against him. She was beautiful with long dark hair and wide baby blue eyes, even when her hair was gone and her eyes were red and blood shot, he still thought she was the most beautiful woman on earth. Cancer would hurt everyone, from all walks of life. Whether they be as sweet and lovely as his Eleanor or as young and kind as Bruce.

He didn't know why he felt the need to help the young man. Maybe because cancer was fucking awful, maybe because that's what Eleanor would've wanted him to do, or maybe it's because Bruce reminded Davy of Eleanor. Not just the cancer but their eyes, they both had that underlying fear and hurt, Eleanor's eyes had them because her father had beat her as a child, he wasn't sure why Bruce's eyes were so sad but he hoped it was nothing like that.

All he knew was that he was going to help this kid, he'd do everything in his power to make sure the kid was okay.


	6. Chapter 6

The next time Bruce woke up, he felt a lot better. At least he did until he looked in the mirror, he looked terrible. Well, wasn't that the understatement of the year, terrible didn't even hope to cover it. The man staring back at him in the mirror had raccoon-like bags under his eyes and his eyes themselves were red and puffy. His arms and legs had long red squiggles that looked suspiciously like fingernail marks, but he wasn't sure.

He ran a tentative hand through his tousled bed-head hair, sighing as he leant over and rinsed out his mouth with stale tasting sink water. But the taste of stale water in his mouth was better than the lingering taste of old vomit. Bruce looked at the side of the counter and was surprised to see a newly packaged toothbrush with a sticky note stuck on it. He grabbed the toothbrush and looked at the note.

"Hey Kid

I thought you might need another one of these, considering your old one stinks of three day old vomit. Yep. Well...here ya go.

Davy"

Bruce smiled as he popped open the toothbrush, wet it, put on toothpaste and began to brush his teeth. He didn't brush harder or anything, just the same way he normally did. So you can imagine his surprise when he pulls his toothbrush away and finds it covered in blood. Bruce's eyes widened and he dropped the toothbrush like a hot poker, rinsing his mouth with sink water, over and over. Each time, the backwash looked less red and more pink. When it had pretty much stopped he looked at his mouth in the mirror and was surprised by the fact that it was his gums that were bleeding.

Bruce sighed and cleaned the toothbrush, putting it back in its package and trying to clean the sink that looks like a murder scene happened in it. Note to self: brushing teeth causes gums to bleed.

He quietly went back into the room and pulled a fresh outfit from his duffel bag. Throwing on the clothes and making sure that he looked some-what presentable as he walked from the room and almost rammed into Davy's chest. The man was carrying a glass of orange juice and a plate of toast and a wide smile broke across his face as he saw Bruce.

"Hey kid, glad to see you're back among the living."

Davy joked as he proffered the food to the physicist. Bruce gave the man a kind smile but when he saw the food, his stomach churned sickeningly and Davy must've realized this because soon enough, the toast was abandoned on the coffee table and Bruce had a glass of orange juice pressed to his lips. The physicist took the juice in small sips at Davy insistence and was surprised when the sick feeling began to alleviate. He still didn't want to try the toast though.

"Hey Davy? Could you drive me to Stark Tower today?"

Bruce asked, once the juice was gone and the cabbie nodded, peering at Bruce in confusion. But Bruce knew that he couldn't avoid the Tower forever, he would have to leave officially or else the rest of the Avengers might just file a 'missing person's report. He wouldn't put it past them.

"Sure, Kid. But why?"

"Oh...just picking up a few things. Nothing important."

Davy's eyes widened at Bruce's shifty look and then sighed at he realized what the problem must be.

"You haven't told your family yet. Have you, kid?"

Bruce's eyes practically popped out of his skull as he gaped at the cabbie, how had he hit it straight on the head? Were the Avengers his family? He thought of Tony and his wise cracks, Clint and the way he laughed, Thor and his innocence, Natasha and her fierceness, and Steve and his genuineness. Yeah...they were.

"Umm...y-yes?" _No I haven't. _

But Davy didn't press further, he just motioned for Bruce to follow him as they headed out the door.

-TimeSkip-

Bruce hadn't meant for all of the Avengers to be waiting for him when he got out of the elevator. To be honest, all he'd wanted to do was go into his room, collect his stuff, leave a note and go. But it appears that wasn't going to happen now. When the elevators opened he was almost completely engulfed in a hug by a worried Thor and the rest of the Avengers looked like they wanted to do the same but restrained themselves.

"Where have you been?!"

Tony spat through his teeth and Bruce stared at the ground as he friends took in what he looked like. He knew he looked like utter shit but he wasn't expecting the silence or the soft, calloused hands that cupped his chin and brought his face upwards to look into Steve's wide blue eyes.

"Bruce. You smell like vomit. Are you alright?"

Bruce almost crumpled like a leaf, then and there. The super soldier's voice was so full of raw concern and hurt that it made Bruce want to scream and cry in his arms. He wanted to break so badly..to splinter into so many pieces that no one would have to bother with his sorry ass ever again. '_Please don't_ _look at me...'_

"I-I'm f-fine. B-But I have to leave." _How are you fine?_

Bruce whispered hoarsely, his voice full of guilt. The moment the super soldier heard that, he stiffened and grimaced. As did most of the team, Tony marched over to Bruce and grabbed him roughly by the elbow. Bruce winced in pain, his arm was still sore from the IV and he couldn't bring himself to look at the utter hurt and betrayal written across the genius' features.

"Why? Tell me why! We love you here, Bruce! What happened?! Things were going so well..."

Tony whimpered, he hated it when people left him and Bruce was part of his family now. He wasn't allowed to worm his way into Tony Stark's heart and then leave him to deal. It just didn't happen! Tony wouldn't let it! Bruce looked up at him, at all of them in heart-wrenching sadness. He had to get them to hate him..somehow...someway.

"You all are so stupid," _Oh, please don't listen to me!_ "Did you really think that I liked living here? Well you're wrong!" _I loved it!_ " I never cared about any of you!" _No! I do! Please I love you with all my heart and soul! _"I'm leaving and it's a relief! So I never have to see you fuckers again!" _Can't you_ _see that the hardest part of this..is leaving you? _

Bruce yelled, loudly. He prayed that they didn't see the way the words rang false in the air or that there were tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. Those words hurt more than anything as they ripped through the shy physicist like a sharp knife. The only thing that greeted him was silence as he spun on his heels and ran back into the elevator, forgetting all about the clothes he was supposed to take with him. He slammed the button for the ground floor.

Once the elevator doors were finally closed, Bruce rested his head against the cold steel and let the tears fall. They stung his already sensitive eyes and made him whimper as he practically leapt out of the elevator when it halted. When he was finally free of the Tower, he was standing alone in the rain. He found it fitting.


	7. Chapter 7

Bruce knew it was coming, he'd known it was coming since before he began treatment. It's one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of cancer and chemotherapy. The hair loss. Bruce had always hated his hair, it was fluffy, unruly and would never stay cut. Yet he also loved it...he loved the way that it stayed constant, his hair was a constant in his life. He would wake up every morning no matter what had happened and it would still be there. But then it wasn't. When he began to wake up and find stray curls on his pillow, he brushed it off and ignored it...four days...it only took four day for his hair to be completely gone, to completely fall out. Even his eyebrows and eyelashes were gone.

Bruce had gone to the first convenience store he could find and bought all of the ski caps they had on hand. Now the hats were always on his head, he would never take them off. Now you really look like a cancer patient. He thought ruefully as he looked around the motel room he'd rented after he'd runaway from the Tower. He hadn't wanted to bother Davy again, so he didn't call him and instead decided to bare his problems by himself.

-TimeSkip-

A week later found Bruce hunched over a bucket in the chemo ward, yet again. Sage wasn't able to comfort him this time, instead she was next to him on the, clutching her own bucket and puking noisily into it. She'd gotten sick before him this time and he didn't trust her to walk back to her room while she was ill, so they stayed together in the same bed. Both vomiting at intervals and comforting each other when there was a lull in their own haze of vomit and nausea.

Bruce felt flushed and freezing at the same time. The last chemo treatment had made him feel terrible, but not like this. In a nut shell...he just felt sick and Sage seemed to notice because in the calm before a new bout of vomiting started, she reached over and tugged on his arm gently.

"Bruce?"

The physicist just blinked at her owlishly, his large chocolate colored eyes were dazed and fever-bright. Sage's own eyes widened and she clamped a gentle hand to her forehead. Only to pull it back moments later with a hiss. His forehead was scorching with heat, an intense fever.

"Shit, Bruce! You have a fucking fever!"

Sage hissed and Bruce made a guttural moaning noise, leaning backwards into the starchy hospital pillows behind them. Sage reached over and pressed the nurse-call button as Bruce just gazed at her dimly. He was really out of it and that was enough for Sage to call for help. She knew that a fever meant an infection...and infections and chemo do not mix well.

Nurses soon swarmed the room, but they ignored Sage as she pointed towards Bruce. They moved him from the bed gently and into a gurney while hooking him to several monitors, Sage was frozen as she watched them yank the red ski cap from his head and toss it onto the bed, where she scooped it up and began to wring it in her hands. One of the doctors snatches Bruce's chemo card off the night table and inspects it before frowning and shoving it into the pocket of his lab coat.

"Get him somewhere sterile. He's neutropenic!"

Sage bit her bottom lip so hard that tears sprung to her eyes. Neutropenia...an extremely low white blood cell count...god, this fever could turn deadly horribly soon. Not to mention the fact that Bruce was here alone. There had to be somebody to contact if worse came to worse.

"Hey, kid! Are you his younger sister or something?"

One male nurse asked and before Sage knew what she was doing, she was nodding in agreement. Bruce made a deep groaning noise in the back of his throat as he looked around blearily, the doctors rolled the gurney gently out of the room, leaving Sage alone with her own puke pail, Bruce's hat and the male nurse from before. The nurse looked after the gurney nervously, like he wanted to follow, like they needed him to follow. He sent a look to Sage as he ran a hand through his sandy blond hair.

"Hey, can you contact some of your relatives and ask them to come here so we can get some things signed?"

The nurse asked and Sage nodded, reaching towards the night table and picking up Bruce's Stark Phone. The young male nurse smiled his thanks as he raced from the room to follow Bruce and the rest of the doctors and nurses. Sage just looked at the phone in her hands and swallowed hard before looking at the contacts and pressing the first one she saw on Speed dial. Somebody named 'Tony S.'

-PlaceSkip-

Tony Stark was in his lab when he got the call, he'd been frowning and fiddling with the arm of the suit when JARVIS told him that she had a phone call from none other than Bruce Banner. Tony had instantly dropped what he was doing and had accepted the call, only to be utterly confused when a young girl's voice filtered through the connection.

"Who are you and why are you on Bruce's phone?"

Tony snapped, anger growing in his chest along with a fair amount of worry. The girl had just sighed and her next words had made Tony freeze.

"Sage McCann. I'm Bruce's chemo-buddy."

Tony numbly let his screwdriver slip from his shaking hand, it smashed against the ground loudly in the quiet lab but Tony didn't care.

"W-What? W-Why does Bruce need a chemo-buddy?"

Chemo...cancer...death...Bruce...oh god...not Bruce...Tony grabbed at his chest, he was hyperventilating as he pictured the face of his fluffy hair physicist in his mind. Was that why Bruce left? B-Because he thought he was going to die? Oh God. Tony thought he was going to be sick.

"Chemotherapy isn't easy so yeah, he needed a chemo-buddy! How else is he supposed to beat his Leukemia?!"

Leukemia...Bruce had leukemia? What was the cure rate? He would fix him somehow, he was Tony fucking Stark! He could fix everything! Tony clenched his fists tightly, breathing hard as he took deep gasping breaths, tears prickling in his eyes. But he was Tony Stark! Tony Stark doesn't cry! Bruce...

"Shit...you didn't know?"

The girl's voice stammered, guilty and confused as Tony whispered softly.

"Where are you guys? Give me a hospital, I'll be there...We'll all be there."

Tony hissed as he ran a shaking hand through his hair, Sage gave him the name of the hospital and the address. Tony wrote all of it down and ran into the elevator, they would all be there in a heart-beat. Oh god Bruce. Tony clenched his teeth and pressed the heels of his palms over his eyes, trying to ignore the undeniable wetness covering them. That stupid idiotic physicist.

-TimeSkip-

The nurses at the front desk of the hospital were surprised when they saw five people burst through the doors and march towards them. There was a woman with fiery red hair, a shorter than average man with blond hair, a tall short haired and muscled man, another muscled blond man with long hair, and a man with dark hair and eyes along with a glowing circle in his chest. Gosh...it was Tony Stark! They all gaped at them as Tony Stark marched up to the desk and ordered to see someone named 'Bruce Banner'.

One of the less frazzled nurses, managed to type it into her computer and her eyes softened as she looked at them. Oncology.

"Floor 8, the Blood cancer wing. He's been moved to the Oncology ICU, he had a fairly high fever a few hours ago and the doctors have been trying to pin point the infection."

The nurse sighed and she tried to ignore the pained looks on their faces. She hated that look. They all shuffled towards the elevators and crammed themselves inside. What the nurse had told them hadn't sounded good. They were all worried, Clint hadn't said any jokes in a while, Steve was biting his bottom lip hard, Natasha scowled at anyone who tried to speak to her, Thor just looked like a kicked puppy and Tony was still trying to push down the bile that rose in his throat.

Once the doors opened on the Oncology floor, they all had different reactions to the people all sitting in hard hospital chairs as they waited. Steve couldn't stop staring in horror at all the children and young adults without a single hair on their body. Some of them looked nearly dead already, it made Steve's stomach churn sickeningly as he thought about it, were they going to lose Bruce? No! They would find a way to save him, they were the Avengers for Pete's sake! They could beat a stupid disease! Couldn't they...?

They went up to the nurses on this floor and asked about Bruce and they were pointed down the hall to sit in some hard plastic chairs to wait for Bruce's doctor to come speak with them. They ended up waiting there for a few hours, Tony was pacing up and down the hall nervously. He didn't trust himself to sit down when he was this worried.

"Are you Bruce's family?"

The Avengers looked up in surprise as a young girl walked over to them, she was dressed in a green T-Shirt and jogging pants with a green knit cap covering her clearly bald head. She also was tugging an IV pole along with her, a long tube was hooked up to it and attached to a tube in her chest. It was Tony who spoke first.

"Yeah, you're Sage right?"

The teen girl nodded and plopped down into a chair next to Natasha. Still wringing what looked like a red ski cap in her hands. Steve looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Is Bruce okay?"

The young girl shrugged and stared at the floor quietly before answering the super soldier softly.

"Well we were getting our chemo together and he had a really bad neutropenic fever, so they took him to the Oncology ICU."

All of the Avengers present looked at her in confusion and Clint was the one who decided to voice his.

"Neutropenic fever?"

"Neutropenia is when all the chemo drugs kill off the healthy white blood cells, as well as the bad ones. So you're left with next to no immune system...a cold could kill a person with neutropenia."

Sage explained then sighed when she saw the terrified and pained looks on their faces. She opened her mouth to reassure them but was cut off as a Hispanic lab-coated woman came over and smiled at the Avengers warmly.

"You're Robert Banner's family? Come with me. I'm Dr. Sanchez, his oncologist."


	8. Chapter 8

The Avengers quickly stood and moved to follow the Hispanic nurse but Sage hopped to her feet as well and hurriedly grabbed Tony's wrist, forcing the billionaire to stop and look at her. She shoved the red knit cap into his hands and he looked at her in confusion, so she explained.

"It's Bruce's, not mine."

She huffed, irritably and Tony nodded, she could tell that he wasn't really paying attention and that his mind was probably focused on Bruce's well-being above all else. She just smiled at him and let him go. He spun around and almost ran after the rest of the Avengers, shoving doctors and nurses out of the way without even a second thought. Sage almost giggled at the shocked expressions on the faces of the medical staff as they realized they had been shoved out of the way by 'The Tony Stark'.

A young Asian nurse who had been watching the exchange, hurried over to Sage and rested a hand on the teen's shoulder once Tony had rounded the corner and was out of sight.

"Sage? Why are you out of bed? You just had to wait until your last chemo was finished, so we could take you to prep for surgery!"

The nurse cried, worriedly and Sage waved her off with a smile on her lips. She let the nervous nurse lead her back to her hospital room to change.

"Come on Nurse Songhi! Let a dying girl help a few people before I kick the bucket!"

Sage laughed, as she tugged the IV pole along with her. Her bare feet slapping against the cold and sterile hospital floors beneath them. But Nurse Songhi sent her such a heart-broken look that it made Sage feel guilty for saying it, even though it was true and they both knew it.

"Don't say that Sage."

The young woman sighed but as much as it pained her too say it, the girl was telling the truth. Sage had been in and out of the Hospital since she was just four years old, she'd been in remission four times and each time, the cancer had relapsed even worse than before. Now, it had metastasized and spread to the muscles in her back and the tissue of her spine, causing a large metastatic tumor on her spine and spinal cord. The doctors also thought it had spread to her heart. Now she was going in for a last chance surgery to remove the tumor. If they couldn't do this...Sage would be gone within a few weeks.

She hated the fact that Sage was dying, such a bright young girl with a bright young future just ripped away like nothing. It just wasn't fair. Songhi was actually surprised that Sage had interacted with another patient though, the young girl had always hated involving herself with other patients. She really wanted to ask the girl why, but she didn't think it was the right time.

Songhi almost jumped in surprise when she felt a pair of thin arms wrap around her waist and pull her into them tightly. Sage buried her head in the Nurse's chest and whispered softly.

"It's going to be okay, Song."

The nurse wilted then, burying her head in the young teen's shoulder. Songhi gently pulled the cap from the girl's bald head, remembering the little girl with auburn colored pigtails who'd come in with her Mom, Dad and twin brother so long ago.

"You're going to be okay."

Sage whispered softly.

-TimeSkip-

Tony and the rest of the Avengers were herded into Dr. Sanchez's office, there were only two chairs but Tony and Steve were the only ones who sat in them, the rest of the Avengers being content to stand behind them in silent overwhelming support. Dr. Sanchez cleared her throat quietly as she sat down and she laid a few papers in front of them.

"Well, I assume you'll want to know the basics of Robert Banner's condition? He has something called Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, also know as the Adult form of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Meaning that his cancer is in the soft part of his bones, the white blood cells they start in are called lymphocytes. But there are two types of lymphocytes, T-cell lymphocytes and B-cell lymphocytes. Robert has B-cell."

Dr. Sanchez explained quickly and Clint decided to ask what was really on their minds, he honestly didn't care why Bruce had the cancer or what kind it was. He just wanted to know if his friend was going to be okay, and the rest of the Avengers shared his point of view.

"Yeah, that's all well and good. But is Bruce going to be okay?"

Clint snapped, running and hand through his hair, nervously. He hated this, the not knowing. How were they going to help Bruce if they didn't know?! Dr. Sanchez sighed as she looked at the desk instead of them.

"80% to 90% of people with Robert's condition usually obtain remission. Which means that there are no active cancer cells within the body. But in about half of them, the cancer returns not long after. The 'Acute' in the name means that ALL progresses quickly and has a high chance of spreading to the lungs, heart, lymph-nodes, spleen and central nervous system. ALL usually accounts for about 1,400 deaths a year in the US, but there are several factors that boost Robert's chances such as his age and the fact that his chromosomes show no mutations. But there are also factors that limit his chance such as the fact that he has B-cell which usually has a poorer prognosis."

Dr. Sanchez explained, softly. She avoided the looks of horror that were plastered across the faces in front of her. Especially the blond man in the chair next to Tony Stark, the poor guy looked as if she had slapped him across the face.

"What about the Neutropenic fever?"

The red haired woman asked, her voice was strangely calm and collected as was her face. But her eyes said otherwise, her eyes were full of pain and unshed tears. Dr. Sanchez sympathized with her almost instantly.

"Ah, yes. Well we think that the infection was most likely a cold but because of Robert's nonexistent immune system at this time, it became much worse. Currently, his fever isn't lethal and he'll probably be released tomorrow. He seems to still be feeling the effects of the chemo treatment he just had, however. We also implanted him with a small device called a Port-a-cath, which is a small catheter the size of a quarter under the skin that we use to administer chemo drugs instead of constantly pricking the veins."

Dr. Sanchez answered stiffly and the Avengers began nodding as if they understood. It was the hurt-looking blond man who spoke next, his voice was so full of sadness that it also made the woman's heart twinge in sympathy.

"Can we see him?"

He asked, eyes wide and doe-like, Dr. Sanchez nodded and stood, motioning for them to follow her, she didn't look to see if they did but by the footfalls behind her, she knew they did. When she finally paused outside of Bruce's room in the Oncology ICU, she reminded them to sterilize themselves before entering, with a quick once over of Bruce with her eyes, she turned on her heels and left.

Tony was the Avenger who walked in first, the rest of the Avengers trailing behind him. But all of them stopped short once they saw the man in the bed. Bruce looked so thin and small in the bed, his head and body as bald as a newborn baby. He was considerably paler than normal, with his flushed cheeks being the only spot of color on his body. When the genius saw Bruce, his heart dropped down to his knees.

The Avengers almost jumped out of their skins in surprise when they saw Sage in the chair beside his bed. She was dressed in a red sweater with gray jogging pants and a red wool hat over her head. She smiled when she saw them and she hopped off the chair.

"Great, you're here! I guess I can go now! See you soon!"

She said cheerily as she marched past them, bare feet slapping against the freezing tiled floor. They all herded around Bruce and none of them noticed that the door didn't open or close, and the girl was still gone.


End file.
